Editor,
I'm deeply saddened by the turn of events in Israel in the last several days. I also am deeply concerned by the statements and actions of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He has repeated for the last three days that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is to blame for "everything."
According to the peace process, the Palestinians must maintain a seven-day ceasefire before the discussions can begin. The day of the attacks in Jerusalem and Haifa, the Palestinian government declared a state of emergency and immediately arrested 130 suspects in the planning of the attacks.
Unfortunately, the Israeli government responded by bombing symbols of the Palestinian government and accusing Arafat of causing these attacks through his support and failure to arrest the perpetrators. Sharon doesn't say that he will topple the Palestinian government, but he did claim to want to send a strong message to Arafat to shape up.
How the hell can Arafat possibly shape up when tanks surround every city, most of his administrative infrastructure is destroyed or hindered, and there are bombs falling on Palestinian cities?
No matter how strong the Palestinian leadership is, they cannot prevent fringe radical Palestinians from getting angry at the bombs falling on their cities and attacking Israeli targets.
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This becomes not an issue of Arafat's power, but of Israeli provocation. It's not enough for Sharon that more than 700,000 Palestinians have fled their country, remaining Palestinians are given only lousy desert land and Palestinians are constantly the victims of harsh interrogation methods and group retaliations - both are illegal according to Geneva conventions. He has to make Arafat's job near impossible.
But what else would we expect from Prime Minister Sharon? He was a ruthless fighter against the Palestinians before the state of Israel even existed. In the Israeli military, he was responsible for short terror missions into Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. In 1982 he effectively removed all Palestinian warriors from a refugee camp in Beirut, and then ordered the execution of 2,000 remaining women, children and elderly Palestinians. Charges were never brought against him.
Maybe it's time for the U.S. government to put pressure on Sharon to behave more peacefully and not condone his "right to protect Israeli citizens" with F16 fighter jet attacks. Perhaps in these volatile times where war is everywhere and peace is a fleeting goal, Sharon is not the right man for the job.
I have friends on both sides of this conflict. I have both Jewish friends and Palestinian Arab friends. They're all great people. I hope with all of my hoping power that more peaceful people can take control of the situation and end the suffering.
Adam Collingsworth
UNM junior studying in Germany
